The woman looked at the man, and then at the cake. She saw that it was too large to give away.
She said, "I will not give you this cake, but I will bake you one, if you will wait."
The hungry man said, "I will wait."
Then the woman took a small piece of dough and made it into a cake and baked it. But when she took this cake from the coals, it was larger than the first.
Again the woman looked at her cake. Again she saw it was too large to give away. Again she said, "I will not give you this one, but I will bake you one, if you will wait."
Again the man said, "I will wait."
This time the woman took a very, very, tiny bit of dough, and made it into a cake.
"Surely, this will be small enough to give away," she thought, yet when baked it was larger than both the others.
The woman stood and looked at the three cakes. Each was too large to give away.